Locker Room Lessons with NFL Great Pepper Johnson

11/10/22 • 92 min

In this episode of the Revenue Builders podcast, our hosts John McMahon and John Kaplan talk to five-time (2 as player and 3 as coach) Super Bowl Champion Thomas “Pepper” Johnson. Pepper shares the good and the bad of the many leadership styles he encountered while playing and coaching alongside some of football’s greatest legends in the NFL. He stresses that talent does not equal success - focus, hard work, and a team-player attitude ultimately determine your fate. Pepper’s advice for leaders: find your own voice and be comfortable in your skin.

Additional Resources:

America’s most trusted all-natural transdermal vitamin patch provider: https://buyb1.com/
Learn how you can help reduce climate change and help rebuild the planet for future generations: https://www.breezypointenergy.com/
Connect with Pepper on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pepper-johnson-3a698312/
Check out Pepper’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pepj52/?hl=en
Follow Pepper on Twitter: https://twitter.com/pepj52?lang=en
Listen to More Revenue Builders: https://www.forcemanagement.com/revenue-builders-podcast

HIGHLIGHTS

Focus on the game, not your pride
Being a leader goes beyond the game
Why Pepper never watched ESPN while playing in the NFL
Leadership lessons from Harry Carson and George Martin
Carry your own weight
Make sure you're ready for your turn
A strong culture is passed down from one generation to the next
Never let distractions steer you away from your true potential
One man is not bigger than the team
Leadership styles learned from Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, and Nick Saban
Leaders need to find their own voice

QUOTES

Pepper on his legacy as an NFL player: "I really didn't realize the impact and the goals... and making my name in the league while I was playing. I really didn't see myself in that form. I was focused on doing my job and trying to win ball games as much as possible."

The common trait that differentiated NFL League players from the rest, says Pepper: "Those were the guys that allowed distractions, whether it was on the football field, or it was off the football field, allowing them to not really perform the way that they should've been performing. [There were] some teammates that I've had going even back to high school that I thought really had the talent to go to college and could play in the league because I've seen guys in the league with lesser talent. But when I had a conversation with those guys that made it in the league, a little more dedication was there."

Pepper's tips for leaders looking to find their own voice: "When you're trying to coach people, when you're trying to be your best, then you want to be comfortable. You don't want to feel like you have someone else's thoughts in your head. You have to make them your own."

Check out John McMahon’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/Qualified-Sales-Leader-Proven-Lessons/dp/0578895064

Additional Resources:

America’s most trusted all-natural transdermal vitamin patch provider: https://buyb1.com/
Learn how you can help reduce climate change and help rebuild the planet for future generations: https://www.breezypointenergy.com/
Connect with Pepper on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pepper-johnson-3a698312/
Check out Pepper’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pepj52/?hl=en
Follow Pepper on Twitter: https://twitter.com/pepj52?lang=en
Listen to More Revenue Builders: https://www.forcemanagement.com/revenue-builders-podcast

HIGHLIGHTS

Focus on the game, not your pride
Being a leader goes beyond the game
Why Pepper never watched ESPN while playing in the NFL
Leadership lessons from Harry Carson and George Martin
Carry your own weight
Make sure you're ready for your turn
A strong culture is passed down from one generation to the next
Never let distractions steer you away from your true potential
One man is not bigger than the team
Leadership styles learned from Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, and Nick Saban
Leaders need to find their own voice

QUOTES

Check out John McMahon’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/Qualified-Sales-Leader-Proven-Lessons/dp/0578895064

Previous Episode

Building a Scalable Culture with Chris Reisig

In this episode of the Revenue Builders podcast, our hosts John McMahon and John Kaplan talk to Chris Reisig, Operating Partner for Jungle Ventures and 5-time CRO. Chris shares insights and wisdom he’s gained through his experience leading the scaling of multiple early-stage companies. From defining the ideal customer to hiring leaders and market expansion, Chris has done and seen it all. Leaders of all levels will appreciate this valuable advice on culture, talent, international sales, and product-led growth from a veteran start-up leader.

Additional Resources:

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisreisig/
Check out Entrepreneurship for All: https://eforall.org/
Listen to More Revenue Builders: https://www.forcemanagement.com/revenue-builders-podcast

HIGHLIGHTS

Don't stop looking for the acute pain point and the ideal customer
Scaling a business means teaching everyone how to close a deal
Don't expand your market too much too early
How early is too early when joining a startup
Never settle for less when it comes to recruiting candidates
The artist vs the scientist: you need both sellers at different times
Expanding outside of your home country entails a lot of resources
Learn how to be the same before trying to be different
Tips for staying connected for leaders being sent to another country
The most important skill for a founder to have
Don't try to be the smartest person in the room

QUOTES

Chris on finding the acute pain point that your customer has: "If you cannot find pain that's acute in your customer, you have to keep looking. Because unless you have something that's painful enough for a customer to invest money and time in, it's interesting but not relevant. They're not gonna do anything."

Chris on what it takes to scale a business: "It's one thing if you and the founder can go out and do 10 deals as a team. But unless you can teach other people beyond the founder and the first sales leader to close a deal, to take a deal from first presentation to a PO, you don't have a scalable business."

The most important skill for a founder to have, says Chris: "Hiring great leadership is probably the single most important difference-maker between success and failure. If you are a sales leader that knows how to hire great leadership underneath you, your ability to scale an organization is amplified. Your ability to get into markets is amplified. Your ability to grow the company is amplified."

Check out John McMahon’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/Qualified-Sales-Leader-Proven-Lessons/dp/0578895064

Next Episode

Embrace The Suck with Brent Gleeson

In this episode of the Revenue Builders podcast, our hosts John McMahon and John Kaplan talk to Navy SEAL combat veteran- and author of “Embrace The Suck,” Brent Gleeson. Brent talks about his journey from the finance world to the military, the traits that make a successful Navy SEAL, and how the mindsets he learned in training benefited him in his post-service business career. Brent’s formula for effective leadership includes resilience, decentralized command, and constant improvement. His mantra, “embrace the suck,” encourages leaders to do one hard thing every day and consistently push the boundaries of their comfort zone to achieve continued success.

Additional Resources:

Buy “Embrace The Suck:The Navy SEAL Way to an Extraordinary Life” by Brent Gleeson : https://www.amazon.com/Embrace-Suck-Navy-SEAL-Extraordinary/dp/0306846330
Visit Brent’s Website: https://takingpointleadership.com/
Connect with Brent on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brentgleeson-takingpoint/
Check out Brent’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/brentgleeson
Listen to More Revenue Builders: https://www.forcemanagement.com/revenue-builders-podcast

HIGHLIGHTS

What makes people resilient
The qualities that make a Navy Seal
Persistence, Purpose, and Passion
Living in a 3-foot world
Always go for the opportunity to make better choices
Do something that sucks everyday
Put yourself in an environment where you can perform better
Fixed vs Growth Mindsets
How to spot and help 'gray men'
Prepare, but don't worry about tomorrow
A good leader can decentralize decision-making
Leaders need to know what motivates their people
If you're not failing, you're not trying hard enough

QUOTES

What makes people resilient, according to Brent: "Resilience doesn't necessarily come from people having an arduous childhood or coming from a lot of adversity necessarily. Sometimes it's chosen, sometimes it's intentional in the fact that people who chose to push the boundaries of their comfort zone and everything they choose to commit to. That builds resilience as well."

Brent explains the 3-Foot World mindset: "His point was stay in your 3-foot world. Right here. Focus on what is in your span of control and only focus on that alone. It really goes into those core elements of resilience where people who are more resilient spend less time, emotion and energy on things they can't impact."

Brent on training your brain to seek challenges, not comfort: "We seek comfort and pleasure naturally, as opposed to seeking pain. But when we can kind of retrain our brains and change the narrative in our mind, you naturally become more inclined to choose the harder stuff."

Check out John McMahon’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/Qualified-Sales-Leader-Proven-Lessons/dp/0578895064